A Strange New World
by Aria6
Summary: AU/KH crossover. A small group of children from another universe find a door in a cave and are accidentally dragged through. What will the find? What will await them? Axel/Roxas, Riku/Sora, Dem/Zex... sort of mpreg but not really. Err, you'll see. XD
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This was an idea that came to me, since I spin out ideas like dryer lint. I can't help it, it's just how I am. This is going to be an AU/KH crossover, with the AU being my original (extremely odd) creation. In case anyone wants to get down to the brass tacks of how this works, this is how I envision it. The characters here are full hermaphrodites. Sperm is manufactured inside the body, leaving room for the vagina. They've been genetically engineered to be this way along with a lot of other modifications to survive a very hostile environment. Now, on with the (admittedly bizarre) show!

* * *

_There are many universes. Many are quite similar but others abide by completely different rules of reality. Sometimes you will find the same people, but twisted and changed by other experiences and histories. Or even inverted, in a mockery of what you know. Deliberate travel between universes is very difficult except for the extremely powerful. Accidental travel, however, can happen with alarming frequency. Such castaways rarely can find their way home._

_In some of these universes, life is harsh and brutal. But the children of such lands have never known anything else and to them, it is completely normal. This is the story of such a group and what happens when reality is breached…_

* * *

Riku leaned back against the tree, hands behind his head and ignoring a stray bit of sap finding its way into his hair.

It was almost winter in Darkvale Forest. There was a definite chill in the air and Riku could tell just be the scent of the air that the first snowfall would be soon. Sighing, he scratched himself under his furs. He'd picked up fleas from the last reindeer they'd caught and butchered and while Zexion's herbal remedies were gradually working, it would be a while before the parasites were really under control.

"How's it going Riku?" Riku looked up with a smile at the quiet question. Sora knelt down beside him, his leathers and furs creaking and Riku reached out to ruffle soft, spiky brown hair. "Hey, watch it!" Sora pouted cutely and Riku laughed softly. Smiling at Sora, Riku remembered how they had met and the history behind it.

Their people, Riku knew, were not as they had once been. A very long time ago, they had been half-people, male and female. Now they were both. Riku didn't understand exactly how it worked and didn't care to, but everyone possessed fully functional male and female attributes. This was not a natural part of evolution, but rather something they had been engineered for in the aftermath of the great magic wars that had devastated the world. All the original half-people had succumbed to the magically twisted radiation, or their children had been born with hideous birth defects. In the end, none of them had survived. The child mortality rate had been dreadful for the new people as well but with the higher tolerance they had been bred with and the additional 'mothers', they had managed to survive. After literally thousands of years, their numbers were beginning to grow.

Riku didn't think they were ever going to be very populous, though. Zexion liked to tell stories about the distant past, stories passed down through so many mouths that it was hard to tell what was truth and what was fancy. But all the stories claimed that hundreds, even thousands of half-people had lived together in towns. Riku couldn't imagine the new people ever doing that. They lived only in small groups, and the largest he had ever heard of had numbered twenty individuals. As they hit puberty the young were given supplies and driven out, to find their way in the wilderness. Many died there, prey to magic twisted beasts and plants, but many also found other groups or singletons like themselves to make a group with. That was how Riku had found Sora. They had both been driven off and wandering when they'd stumbled across each other on the edge of Darkvale Forest. The land was unclaimed and rich, so they'd taken it for their home. Others had soon joined them and now, five years later, they had a proper group.

"It's going well. The winter supplies are looking good." Riku was feeling quite complacent about the winter. Winter was never pleasant this far north but if you went into it with good supplies it wasn't at all bad. "Which is good, given Axel's condition." Sora made a face and Riku understood. Axel's timing couldn't have been worse, which had made putting in the winter supplies far more critical. "It's ironic, really. I know for a fact Axel is usually the one on top, but one of the few times Roxas tops, Axel manages to catch." That fact had had the rest of them quietly snickering at the couple. Behind their backs, of course. Roxas and Axel both had a violent streak and wouldn't take mockery well.

"It could have been a disaster. Axel is the worst person to get pregnant." Sora said a touch tartly. Riku nodded, understanding. The redhead was whipcord thin at the best of times, unable to put on the proper coating of fat even when eating as much food as he could. Bulking up a bit before the winter was a standard survival strategy, but Axel just couldn't manage it and with a baby on the way he was actually losing weight. It didn't help at all that his body was undergoing the changes designed to give him secondary female attributes to feed the baby. New people didn't nurse their children long, only a half year at the most, but that time was critical for the child's development.

"Well, he'll be fine. There's plenty of food." If food had been scarce, well. Axel would probably have ended up miscarrying. The child was going to be born only a month or two into winter, which was the hardest time of the year. "I can't wait to see it really. This will be our first baby in the group." Riku was looking forward to that. Not only would it really signal their adult-hood, a child would be the glue to keep their group together permanently. Instincts would call on all the adults to protect. Until a group like theirs, of unrelated almost children produced a child, they were impermanent at best.

"I bet it will be cute." Sora smiled, looking forward to it as well, although he couldn't help but be a little worried about Axel. Birth complications were rare but not unknown, although Zexion and Sora could both help with those. They were the medics and herbalists of the group. "Want to come back to the longhouse? It's getting cold out."

"Sure." As they walked back, Riku looked towards the longhouse and reflected, not for the first time, that it scarcely deserved the name. It was actually quite short, but then, it was only inhabited by six people. But the construction of the longhouse was faithful to the ancient design, and so the name stayed. Pulling open the animal skin and slipping inside, Riku had to pause to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. A cheerful fire was crackling and snapping in the hearth, but compared to the outside the longhouse was dim indeed. There was nothing like windows and there never would be. Warmth was far too precious.

"Hey. Hungry?" Roxas asked from where he was stirring a pottery kettle filled with something aromatic. Riku's nose twitched as he caught the scent of bird.

"What is it?" They didn't raise animals like the southerners did, so it had to have been something they'd caught. Roxas smiled briefly.

"Wild turkey. Axel shot it." Riku nodded, unsurprised, and took a bowl, holding it out so Roxas could ladle out some of the soup. They were all good with weapons but Axel preferred the sling and he was excellent with it. Despite his pregnancy, Axel was still hunting and it was probably good for him. Soon they would be mostly confined to the longhouse and there was no reason to start on the cabin fever early.

"It's good. Thank you." The soup was rich with grains and vegetables. They did a great deal of hunting and gathering, but the group also planted and harvested grains and tubers. This years harvest had been very good, not like some other years. A pinch of salt from the bag and the soup was truly delicious. Roxas frowned faintly as he looked at the bag.

"We'll have to send someone to the salt lake in the spring." Riku sighed at that but nodded. The salt lake was deep within Darkvale Forest and a very difficult trek, but it would have to be done. If nothing else, they would need extra salt for trading. Salt was a valuable commodity and other groups were willing to trade them copper and tin for it, which they couldn't make for themselves.

As they ate, Sora and Riku listened to Demyx plucking a tune on his sitar. He'd gotten the instrument from a trader from the coast and while it had cost them a pretty penny, the music was worth it. Riku had been told the instrument was very old and came from somewhere else originally, and he sometimes wondered if it might come from the old days, before the new people had existed. The strings never seemed to break, no matter how many times Demyx tuned it. But then, he was very careful with it.

Zexion and Axel slipped into the longhouse together, and Axel was carrying a basket of something. Riku blinked at it, a bit surprised. Autumn berries? Although you never knew what some of the magic twisted plants would do. They were cornucopias of often terrible surprises.

"Want some berries? They're safe, Zex and I tested them out." Axel assured him but Riku frowned, carefully testing the berries with his own powers of darkness. It never hurt to be too careful. They were rich in magic but seemed benign, and he carefully took one, holding it under his tongue and letting his body sample it. One advantage the new people had over the old was the ability to detect toxins. He finally swallowed it as Sora tested with his powers of light and smiled at the faint rush the infusion of magic gave him.

"Thanks guys." Zexion smiled and took a seat on the fur rugs, Axel following with a grunt and accepted a bowl of soup from Roxas. He was getting big now, and Riku only wished it was carrying over to the rest of him. He was definitely too thin for the demands being placed on his body.

"Something odd going on over at the cave." That comment from Axel caught Riku's attention. The cave had always been extremely odd and they often went there to see what they could find. One of the groups prized possessions, a little knife made of an unknown substance, had come from there. It folded up and Zexion thought it looked like an artifact from the old days, but how could that be? It should have succumbed to rust and this knife looked brand new. "We saw some lights. Maybe we should go check it out."

"Tomorrow?" Sora said eagerly and Riku smiled. Everyone loved the cave, it was like a treasure hunt. Most of what they found was completely useless, of course. Some of it even appeared to be trash. But it shouldn't have been there, which made every trip a fun diversion.

"Why not?" Riku said agreeably. He was the default leader of the group, for no real reason he understood. But the others looked to him for leadership and he'd accepted the mantle. "Zexion, can you tell us a story?" Zexion smiled and began to speak. They all knew most of the stories, but Zexion was their official historian. He was also the only one of them who could read and write. It was a rare skill and mostly useless, but he would pass it on to his own children. That was the tradition.

"Long ago and far away, when two moons graced the sky and the merfolk lived in the sea, there was a girl named Cinderella." Riku let himself be caught up in the familiar story, marveling at the faint illusions Zexion spun from his hands as he spoke, showing them the girl and her trials. That was his gift, the magic of illusion, and he used it well. Riku was unutterably glad that Zexion and Demyx had joined their group. With stories and music as well as Zexion's gift with herbs, they were invaluable. When the story was over, Demyx began to pick out a tune on his sitar and the others picked up their instruments. Riku himself couldn't keep a tune in a bucket, but Axel's drumming and Sora's pan pipes made a nice background to Demyx's sitar. Then Demyx and Roxas began to sing, and the music was complete. Riku and Zexion both listened, entranced. When the music was done, Riku took up the torch and began telling a story about a strange creature called Oogie Boogie. He wasn't as good at it as Zexion, but they all took their turns entertaining the group.

Finally everyone was ready for sleep, and Riku cuddled up against Sora, just listening to the beat of the smaller boys' heart. Demyx and Zexion were using the partitioned off part of the longhouse and everyone else ignored the soft sounds with the ease of long practice. In the fall and winter, there was very little privacy to be had, but that didn't stop anyone from attempting to procreate. Riku grinned a little at the thought and resolved to see if Sora was interested in the morning.

With that decided, he let himself relax into the embrace of fur and warm flesh, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"Sora." Riku groaned softly as the brunette licked his throat, finding the pleasure points that could effortlessly arouse him. Sora pulled back with a grin, his bright blue eyes cheerful as he knelt over his silver haired lover, reaching down to massage Riku's erection and rub it against own hardness. "Mmm, please." Riku could feel the wetness inside himself, the need to be filled building. "Inside. Please."

"Right." Sora said, a touch breathlessly as he changed his position so he was kneeling between Riku's thighs. He quickly positioned himself and went inside, making Riku shudder in pleasure. They weren't true males so there was no need for lubrication or stretching. Only the beautiful, wonderful sensation of being filled and touched at the same time. Riku caught Sora's lips in a deep, passionate kiss as they began rocking together on top of the fur blankets. Riku's head fell back and his breath quickened as he felt his building orgasm, the tension in his penis and the tight feeling deep inside. There was a brief, shining moment right before he released, a powerful dual orgasm that left him rigid for a moment. Sora followed a moment later, muffling his cry of pleasure against the blankets before relaxing.

"Mmm, so good." He sighed softly, lifting his head and blinking at Riku heavily, stroking a bit of damp silver hair away from his face. "Riku, I love you." Riku smiled, hugging Sora tightly for a moment before the brunette pulled away.

"I love you too." It was amazing really. They'd met by pure chance and given that they were both unmated, it had been almost inevitable that they would mate. But they'd found more than mere physical release, more than even just companionship. They had found love. Riku vaguely wished his parents could have experienced that, but he knew they hadn't. They hadn't even liked each other. Riku sometimes wondered if Axel and Roxas and Demyx and Zexion felt the same, but he wasn't going to ask. If the answer was no, the question would just be cruel. They nuzzled for a moment before pulling on their clothes. No one commented as they left the partitioned section to grab some breakfast. There was still plenty of soup from last night, and they both grabbed a bowl and downed it quickly before picking up their bows. "Everyone ready to go?"

"We've been ready longer than the two of you." Axel observed with a smile as he twirled his sling, making Riku blush. "Want anyone to have their real weapons out?" Riku frowned faintly, then nodded.

"Zexion, if you would." Zexion nodded and snapped his fingers, calling in his weapon. It was a book, and the thickest Riku had ever imagined could exist. He couldn't imagine actually reading it and sometimes wondered what was in it. Sora had suggested it was versions of 'blah blah blah' but Zexion hadn't taken kindly to that.

All of them had special weapons. It was one of the attributes of the new people, along with their innate connection to some type of magic. Riku could call upon the darkness as easily as breathing and formed it into a weapon he called the Soul Eater. It was an ominous weapon, but that didn't disturb him. The darkness was an innate part of his being and completely within his control. Sora had the power of light and summoned a blade he called Oathkeeper. Axel's power was fire and his weapons were strange wheels that he referred to as chakram. Demyx had no weapon at all, but could summon water clones of himself and cast water based spells. And of all of them, Roxas was the strangest. He called in two blades, one a weapon of darkness called Oblivion and the other a weapon of light called Shattered Key. That weapon worried Riku a little. It was a very slender weapon with a jagged head reminiscent of a small key, but despite being light magic it wasn't like Oathkeeper. It was the light that cut and burned.

They could have all had their real weapons out and that would have been safer, but that would have made hunting difficult. Axel let fly and whooped as he hit something.

"Chipmunk!" Running up to the little body, he stuffed it into his belt pouch. It wasn't much but every little bit helped. Riku took a shot at a bird but missed, and had to retrieve his arrow before they could continue. Arrows weren't that easy to make so they tried not to loose them entirely.

Soon they were at the cave. It sat on the banks of a deep, beautiful lake. They had thought about making their home near here, but the wild magic was too strong. The spot they had chosen was much safer. Water might have been a problem, but after a bit of magic and labor they had a well.

"I love this place." Demyx said cheerfully as Zexion conjured a little light to guide their way. Zexion's magic was all illusions and mysteries. "Hey look!" He bent down and Riku blinked as he freed something from the dirt. "Can you read this Zexion?" Zexion took the artifact, a strange piece of paper, and peered at it closely.

"Mc-don-alds. Over… one million served." He read slowly, carefully sounding out the words. Not even Zexion could read fluently. There were no books to practice with, no writing except the ones he made for himself. Unless you counted his weapon book, but that took too much energy to maintain just for reading and most of it was in other languages anyway.

"Served what?" Riku wondered as the wandered farther into the cave, Zexion discarding the scrap. It was interesting trash but still trash. "And what's a million?"

"It's… a lot." Zexion answered. "You know a thousand?" Riku nodded. He could count and do basic math. "It's a thousand plus a thousand ten times, I think." Riku blinked and Sora stared at him. Their people had no use for numbers that big. "There were that many old people, I think, before the cataclysm."

"Hm." Riku wasn't sure if he believed that or not, but decided it didn't matter. Such numbers of people were simply unimaginable for him. As always, they paused for a moment to look at the drawings on the walls. They were done in white chalk and Riku knew none of them had put them there. Another mystery of the cave.

"What is this?" Axel was poking at something ahead and they all hurried up to take a look at it.

"It looks like a door." Roxas said uncertainly, gripping his lovers arm and pulling him away from it. Axel scowled but went as Roxas hissed a reminder in his ear. The pregnant member of their group certainly shouldn't be taking the risks first. Zexion and Sora took his place, examining the door as the others looked around, checking for anything untoward. But there was nothing… just this strange, floating door that didn't seem to belong.

"It's strange. I'm not sure how to open it." Zexion murmured as he touched the doorknob on the door. They were familiar with doors mostly as hide flaps, but they knew about other sorts of doors. Zexion's original family had used log cabins with real doors instead of a longhouse.

"Zexion, it's a floating magical doorway in a cave that always spits up strange objects." Riku pointed out. "Even if we knew how, should we open it?" Zexion blinked. Clearly he hadn't thought of that, but then, it was his nature to be inquisitive. Sora looked troubled by the thought. Suddenly Zexion sniffed the air then sneezed.

"Wild magic coming! Let's get out of –" That was as far as he got before the magic surge hit them. Sora screamed in pain, pressing his hand against his ears as discordant sounds and vibrations hit him. Riku grabbed the other boy, pulling him into a tight embrace. He could vaguely see Roxas and Axel huddled together against the floor, trying to ride out the surge as Demyx fought his way to Zexion's side, grabbing the other boys' arm. Just as his hand clamped down on Zexion the door exploded open.

There was no time to scream before they were pulled through.

* * *

In the World that Never Was.

"Mrph."

"Can you please eat with your mouth closed?" Roxas said absently to Axel, who paused, half-masticated burrito in hand.

"Why?" Roxas sighed to himself as he scanned the darkness. They were out to clean up Heartless, always a chore but good for the Organization. Freeing hearts was his duty, after all. But so far they hadn't found a single one.

"Nummy." Axel remarked as he finished the burrito, tossing the wrapper with a fine disregard for littering laws. Not that the World that Never Was had any police to enforce it. Or any littering laws, come to think of it, although Xemnas did encourage them to pick up after themselves. "Hey, what's that?" Calling up his chakram Axel started towards what had caught his attention. Roxas turned his head and followed as he caught the flash of bright color.

What it was turned out to be something very peculiar and a bit off putting. Two… boys?... were unconscious on the ground. Roxas stared into the face of a tall, lanky… man?... who looked curiously like Axel. But for the first time in his short life as a Nobody, Roxas found himself completely unable to sex another person. The face was different from Axel's, softer and slightly rounder. Yet it wasn't feminine enough for Roxas to say, without doubt, that this was a girl. Looking over the rest of his/her body decided the matter, though. Either this person had a pot belly or was pregnant so he abruptly decided it had to be a woman. Although the resemblance to Axel was alarming. Even the tattoos were the same.

"A relative of yours?" Roxas blinked, looking up as Axel poked the second body with his foot. Roxas stared as he saw another androgynous face, but one that looked curiously like his own. "Damn. Is this a boy or a girl?" Axel knelt down and before Roxas could stop him, yanked down the leather pants for a quick look. "Boy. I think. Wait, where are his balls?"

"Axel, stop molesting him!" Roxas slapped the redhead's hands away as Axel grinned, completely unrepentant. "That one looks like you. We should probably take them to the castle." Axel made a small hmm noise and checked the blonde boy for a pulse.

"They have hearts, but yeah." If they left the two here they would likely get eaten by the Heartless. Axel lifted his own double while Roxas carried his lookalike. Creating a corridor of darkness, they returned to the castle.

They were both unaware of the faint sparkle in the air that was a door closing, forever.


	2. Atlantica, Part I

"Zexion, wake up!" Zexion clamped his eyes closed even tighter. He didn't want to wake up. He felt warm and safe and floating. "Zeeeeex!"

"Shut up Dem it's too early." He mumbled then groaned as hands shook his shoulders. "Chaos lips' and Order's cock! Demyx, what is it?" Zexion blinked, looking around. "Huh?" Zexion suddenly paled. "How are we alive?"

That was a pressing concern since they were both underwater. Zexion started to quietly panic before abruptly realizing that he was breathing and speaking. HOW, he had no idea. It shouldn't have worked, water didn't carry vibrations like air but for some reason that didn't seem to matter. Zexion stared at a woeful Demyx, who was clinging to him and burying his face against the other boys' neck.

"I don't know!" Demyx almost wailed and Zexion winced. "And I don't know where my cock went!"

"Wait, what?" Zexion glanced down himself and saw, to his horror, that his body was completely changed. He had the upper body of a boy and the torso of a – what? "Demyx, calm down! We're merfolk!" At least, the singer was a merfolk. Zexion wasn't sure what he was. He had eight tentacles that he found he could manipulate to swim and grab things. Demyx squeaked as the tentacles grabbed him.

"Zexion! That tickles." Demyx squirmed away a bit and Zexion immediately let go. "Seriously, where is my cock?"

"Infant! Find it yourself." Zexion snapped. He was sure it had to be there somewhere and they'd find it when they needed to go to the bathroom. Glancing around, he took in the underwater reef they were floating beside. It was full of fish and Zexion suddenly licked his lips as he realized he was hungry and the fish looked appetizing. Very appetizing. That was a bit odd, he'd never much cared for fish before, but he did know how to spear fish for them. Evaluating himself a bit more thoroughly, Zexion realized his clothing was gone but there was a leather strap across his chest, holding a trident in place on his back. Had his bow and arrows somehow become this? Deciding not to question it at the moment, Zexion pulled free his trident. Demyx, he noticed, only had his sitar but it had changed to an odd thing made out of coral and decorated with seashells.

"What are you doing Zex?" Demyx asked nervously as Zexion began stalking the unwary fish.

"I'm hungry. Shove them over to me, will you?" It suddenly occurred to Zexion that Demyx's powers combined with his trident would be wonderfully efficient at catching fish. Demyx did so and the gust of water sent fish directly to Zexion, who carefully speared a nice big fat one. It was a dark green color and Zexion blinked a little at the sound it made as it died.

"Um. Did that fish scream?" Demyx asked hesitantly and the silver haired boy hesitated a moment before shrugging and pulling it off his trident.

"Does it matter?" He countered and Demyx considered it a moment before shaking his head. He was hungry too… but the fish didn't seem appetizing to him. Hesitating, he picked up a piece of seaweed and began to eat it as Zexion began to eat the fish raw. "Hmm. It seems we're different kinds of merfolk." Demyx was clearly into vegetables where Zexion needed meat. Quickly finishing his fish, Zexion started to swim as Demyx followed behind. He had no idea where he was going, but surely there were other merfolk here. Wherever they were. "I wonder if the merfolk on our world survived and the door sent us to the bottom of the sea?" That was an appealing thought. Although Zexion had always thought merfolk were a myth, not something that really had existed once.

"Maybe." He doubted it though. Zexion found that adapting to his new body was easy, although he did almost bite his tongue before he realized his teeth were very sharp now. The surroundings were beautiful although nothing more different than Darkvale forest could be easily imagined.

"Look!" Demyx pointed ahead and Zexion lifted his head. The two of them halted, staring at the thing in front of them. "Is this a _city?_"

They both were silent with wonder and something close to horror as they saw dozens… no, hundred of merfolk below them going about their lives. The buildings were made of coral and sandstone, beautiful structures that vaguely reminded them of sand castles. Merfolk were playing, trading and working on things they didn't understand in the streets below.

"Too many. It's too many. Zexion!" Demyx's hands clamped down on Zexion's shoulders with bruising force, and the octopus boy winced. He knew exactly what Demyx's problem was. He was feeling it himself.

The stories said that when the old people had been making the new people, they had taken shortcuts. For some things, like the internal organs, they had borrowed from other species. Unfortunately, they had inadvertently passed on instincts the old people would probably not have wanted in their creations. That was the real reason no group Zexion had ever heard of had numbered more than twenty individuals. When a group became any larger than that they started driving newcomers away and newcomers wouldn't come anywhere near them, instinctively knowing that their welcome would be warmer than they wanted. The only exceptions were traders, whom larger groups managed to tolerate with the understanding that they would come and go quickly. And that was a nervous business for the trader since you never knew when the group might decide the trader had outstayed his welcome.

So confronted by this city, Demyx and Zexion were feeling an instinctive urge to flee before they were killed. The fact that they knew it was ludicrous helped, but not enough. Zexion put his arms around Demyx and tried to gently comfort him as he gritted his teeth, fighting to control his own instincts. _I will not be a slave to this!_ He told himself firmly. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at the city. It wasn't as bad and Zexion wondered if the instinctive urge to kill or flee would fade over time. "Come on Demyx, lets go."

"Down there?!?" Demyx looked horrified by the thought. "Zexion, we can't!"

"We have to." He said firmly, gripping the sitarists hand as he whimpered softly. "Look, they clearly live together in large numbers. They're not going to kill us for being strangers. We can't let our instincts rule us this way Dem, we just can't. Are we thinking creatures or just animals?"

"Animals." Demyx replied promptly. "Ow!" He rubbed his head where Zexion had hit him, pouting. "Alright, alright. I'll follow you. But if we both get gutted and hung out to dry like – like a couple fish, it's all your fault!"

"Feel free to haunt me." Zexion said absently as he swam down into the city. The one thing that unnerved him and twanged his instincts was that all the merfolk he saw seemed to be Demyx's sort. He didn't see any that looked like him at all. Shelving that, Zexion swam through the town and paused for a moment as he saw a mermaid handing over seashells to a merchant. Were those _money?_ Zexion knew what money was from his stories, counters with an agreed upon value, but the new people had no use for it. With small groups there was simply no need, but now that he'd seen a real city Zexion suddenly understood how vital counters would be. "We need some money." He vaguely wondered how they could get some. Demyx was nervously strumming on his sitar as they swam and that started to attract a bit of attention.

"Hey, can you play?" A ruby haired mermaid accosted them and Demyx shied away. Zexion couldn't help but stare. Even with shells in place it was clear she was female, and he'd never seen secondary attributes outside of pregnancy before. It was a bit odd. A crab of some sort was swimming beside her, and a very plump yellow fish. Looking at them made him feel hungry but he restrained himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. But your music was so pretty, could you play something for me?"

"Yes, play Ariel a song." The crab ordered them and they both stared at it. It was one thing for merfolk to talk… but crabs? Blinking, Demyx shook his head.

"Uh, s-sure." He began to pluck out a tune and his confidence quickly revived as the music filled the water. Zexion smiled as he listened to the familiar song, an ancient lament of the moon and her love for the sun that could never be fulfilled. Spreading his hands, he called up his illusions, letting the merfolk see the saga of the sun and the moon dancing in a forest clearing. It never occurred to him that the fact that his illusions were of humans, land dwellers, would be odd to them. He didn't know the merfolk well enough to make good illusions of them even if he'd wanted to. The song finished and Zexion blinked as he realized they'd gotten quite an audience. It didn't really bother him, though. It felt almost like home and to his surprise, most of them clapped and some tossed them a few of the seashells.

"You really should have a basket for those, you know." The crab commented. "I'm Sebastian by the way and this is Flounder. Who are you?" He sounded oddly suspicious and seemed to be looking more at Zexion.

"I'm Zexion and this is Demyx." The silver hair introduced himself as his friend picked up the seashells. "We're, ah, new around here." Zexion scratched the back of his neck, fighting to control his instincts as more people swirled around them. Everyone seemed very curious and even though they weren't really getting that close, his instincts were screaming that he was being crowded. Focusing hard on Ariel, he saw she was looking at him like a starving man looking at a piece of meat.

"Were those humans? Was that the surface world? Have you seen the surface?" She demanded as Sebastian tried to hush her. Other merfolk drew away and Zexion was about to lie when Demyx started talking.

"Oh, we're new people from the surface! We don't know how we got here, there was a funny door that sucked us in. We thought merfolk were just myths, it's really neat! Hey, are you the Little Mermaid Ariel? The princess? That's a great story and Zexion could tell you it if you want –"

"Demyx!" Zexion tried to grab his lover but Demyx floated easily out of range, blinking at him.

"What's your problem Zex? We want to find our friends and how can we find them if we don't ask for help?" Zexion paused as he realized Demyx was actually slightly ahead of him. That was a good point although it didn't alleviate his concerns in the least. He didn't trust these people yet.

"You mean you're from another world, like Sora?" Ariel sounded shocked but pleased and Sebastian tugged on her fins.

"Ariel! We should take them to your father immediately." Zexion felt a sudden chill of ice at that.

"King Triton?" He said weakly and they both looked at him, surprised.

"Why, yes. How did you know?" Flounder asked. Demyx gasped as he caught the reference.

"Wow! This is just like your story Zexion." Then he suddenly frowned. "Wasn't that story written a really long time ago?"

"Yes, it was. And there was a Sebastian and Flounder in it…" Zexion shook his head, feeling like he was being bedeviled by gnats. "I don't understand this. Please, can you take us to King Triton?" Zexion suddenly asked Ariel, who looked a little startled at the request. "I think we need help." And if the story was correct, the one most likely to have the power to help them was King Triton.

Although whether or not he'd be willing to was another story. Zexion looked down at himself and suddenly realized he resembled Ursula, the main villain of the story. His bottom half was black and purple the she was described, with eight tentacles. He hoped that didn't hurt his chances with the King but there was nothing to be done about it.

"Hmm. Okay! This way." Ariel led them off and Zexion and Demyx had to swim quickly to keep up. Zexion smiled, tugging on Demyx's hair to keep him going. Now that he was starting to get past his instincts, natural curiosity was starting to assert itself. Zexion himself had to fight the urge to investigate so many fascinating things. Particularly when they entered the palace. There were all kinds of pretty sculptures and flowing plants, showing them brightly colored fronds. Ariel brought them to the throne room and Zexion was almost appalled to see that his illusion of King Triton was identical to the real one. What did that mean? He had no idea. But it couldn't be a coincidence.

"Ariel, where have you been? And who are these?" King Triton eyed them thoughtfully and Zexion thought he was seeing a great deal more than he would have liked. Especially when the King looked at him for a long moment. Zexion couldn't read his expression under all the hair but didn't think it was good. New people didn't have facial hair, something Zexion had always thought was a blessing.

"This is Zexion and this is Demyx, dad. They're from another world like Sora and they need help. Please, can you help them?" Zexion appreciated Ariel's attempt at charming her father, although her trusting nature was a little alarming. King Triton, alas, seemed mostly immune to his daughter's charm.

"Hmmm." He looked them both over thoughtfully again and paused on Zexion. "You look a bit like Ursula. Are you a wizard?" Zexion hesitated, not sure what answer the King wanted. So he opted to go with the truth.

"Not exactly. I have powers of illusion and shadow but that's inborn." He didn't mention his book. Whenever he was in need of something specific, his book often gave him the spell he needed, and they were real spells with ingredients and required channeling the wild magic. That was his own secret and only Demyx really understood what his book could do. Not that he really distrusted the others, but a few of them couldn't lie to save their lives. Demyx could at least lie when he was coached ahead of time. "Demyx here has some power over water, but it's just what we are, nothing special."

"We need help finding our friends!" Demyx suddenly butted in and Zexion wanted to sigh or find a gag for him. "We were all pulled through the door but they didn't come out with us. We think they must have gone to another world, can you send us to them? Or just somewhere else so we can look? They need us!"

"No." Zexion stared at King Triton, shocked by the flat refusal. "We do not interfere with other worlds. You know that Ariel." He glared at his daughter who stared back mulishly. Demyx gaped then started to speak.

"But! But but but! Our world is missing us and your world has us! Aren't we interfering just by being here?" Zexion wanted to smack the sitarist but wasn't sure how to do it without anyone noticing. Why not just suggest to the King he have them killed? Although the stories didn't seem to indicate that King Triton was really that bad… "And we just want to leave! Wouldn't that be putting things right?"

"I said no, and that's final!" The King stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Now, what to do with you…" Demyx blinked and looked around, suddenly aware of the danger as Zexion gathered his power to summon his book. He didn't want to. He remembered from the story that as long as the King had his triton, he had full power over the sea. The silver hair doubted his book could stand up against that.

"Your Majesty, if I may make a suggestion?" Sebastian suddenly alighted on the side of the throne and bowed. "They would make very valuable additions to the orchestra. He has a beautiful instrument and the illusions the other makes are most amazing." Demyx brightened at that and Zexion found himself intrigued. He knew what an orchestra was, theoretically, but he'd never seen one. King Triton nodded.

"An excellent suggestion. See to it, Sebastian. And Ariel, show them around and find them a room." Ariel sighed softly but smiled and showed them out of the room.

"I'm sorry. He's really stuck on not interfering with other worlds." She said softly as they exited the throne room. "I'll pick on him about it later, but leave it to me." Zexion nodded, understanding. Ariel was King Triton's daughter and she couldn't be pulled up short the way the two of them could.

"I'm really worried about Axel Zex." Demyx murmured in his ear as they were shown to a small room. Zexion nodded.

"Me too." He was the herbalist and healer of the group, although Sora was passable. Axel would need one of them when he gave birth and it was only a few months off. And that was if he carried the baby to full term, which might not happen. First babies were often a little premature. "Me too." But there was nothing they could do about it for now. They would just have to adapt and try to find a way past the King's edict.

It might be challenging.


	3. The Pridelands, Part I

Author's Note: This visit to the Pridelands is occurring before Sora is reunified with Roxas. Also, this Sora is older than the KH version so his lion form is adult. Enjoy!

"Urgh." Riku forced himself to his feet, trembling slightly with reaction. Or rather, he tried to force himself to his feet. "What…?" Looking down he saw limbs that were coated in fur and far too many of them. "…Am I a cougar?" Riku knew cougars. They weren't really that dangerous unless they were magic twisted and not worth hunting except for their pelts. Shoving himself to all four feet, he carefully looked himself over. "Hmm." The coloring was entirely wrong for a cougar, grey and white. But it did somewhat match his hair. "Sora?" Glancing around he easily spotted a brown furred cat and ran over. Following new instincts, he nudged and licked his lover until Sora groaned and stirred.

"I feel awful." Sora managed to sit up and blinked at Riku. "…Riku? Is that you?" Sora tried to touch his own face and patted himself with a paw. "Augh! What am I?" Sora looked himself over as Riku laughed, sitting on his haunches.

"We're cougars I think." Although he suspected that wasn't quite right. They didn't look like the cougars he remembered seeing. "I wonder how we use our weapons like this?" Riku hesitantly called on his sword and blinked as he found his paws sheathed in darkness. "Ah, that works." Sora licked his lips and did the same but ended up with Oathkeeper held in his mouth. "That… looks suboptimal."

"Shuft upth." Sora spat out the blade and caught it in his tail. "There, that's better. So what are we doing?"

"Looking for food, water and our friends." Riku decided immediately. That focused Sora and he glanced around, looking stricken.

"Our friends! Where is everyone? Are we the only ones here?" Riku nuzzled him comfortingly.

"I think it's because we were holding each other." Riku could remember clinging to Sora for dear life as the vortex took them. "I don't know where they are. We'll have to look for them, especially Axel." Sora nodded and bounced to his feet.

"Right, we'll find them! Come on Riku." He bounded away, leaving the silver 'cougar' to trail behind him more sedately. Riku's nostrils flared as he picked up an appetizing scent. Well, appetizing to his new body, and that was all that mattered. "Ohhh look!" Sora ran up to a huge carcass of some creature Riku couldn't even begin to name. "This smells _delicious._"

"It does." He agreed as Sora began eating the carrion. Riku joined him a moment later, trusting his new body to know what was good for it. The carcass certainly tasted good and Riku opened the belly with one quick swipe, licking his lips thoughtfully at the spill of slightly rotten intestines. This body wasn't fresh, but it still smelled like good food. He started on the guts while Sora began with the hindquarters.

"HEY!" There was an outraged squawk behind them and Riku lifted his head, licking his lips as he saw three wild dog things walking up behind them. They didn't look like any dogs or wolves Riku had seen before, but it was the closest definition he could find. "That's our supper."

"You snooze you lose." Riku retorted easily, turning around to face them. Sora swallowed one last gulp of meat before padding out to join him. One of the dog things started to laugh as the three of them began circling the duo.

"I think we've got a new supper, huh? Something… fresher. What do you think Shenzi?" One of the males said and the laugher giggled as the female grinned.

"Sounds good to me Banzai." Riku suddenly stalked towards her, making her back up and the other two pause in confusion.

"I think so too. So tell me, which of you is volunteering to be the entrée?" Riku purred softly, aware that he was mostly bluffing. There were more of the dog things gathering and he wasn't sure they could take them all, but he had the feeling these dogs might be vulnerable to intimidation. Sora just let him run with it, standing strong and steady with his blade in his tail.

"Hey! You're a bit outnumbered ya know?" Banzai said and Riku flashed him a brief grin that was more a baring of teeth than an expression of happiness.

"I know. But the question is, how many of you can I kill? …And who is standing closest to me?" He asked pleasantly and the three hyenas exchanged looks before pulling back into a huddle. Riku listened, managing to catch their low voiced conversation.

_We can take them!_

_They're crazy and I don't want to die. Let me handle this._

"Look, we can't let you have the elephant." Banzai said in more conciliatory tones. Riku noted the name for the future and wondered what a living elephant would look like. The dead one was certainly impressive. "You lionesses shouldn't be here anyway, you should join the pride." Riku considered that for a moment, then considered the state of his stomach. He'd eaten a good breakfast and just finished almost all the entrails, so he would be fine for some time.

"Very well. The elephant is yours. What's the way to this pride? We're newcomers here." Although Riku actually had no idea what 'pride' was, outside of a state of mind. For that matter, what was a lioness?

"Back that way." The female, Shenzi, said in a rather crabby tone. "Now get lost, will you? We're hungry." Riku decided not to test his luck any further and walked past them confidently, Sora following. The third hyena suddenly farted and started laughing, followed by all the others. Sora paused for a moment, then let out a tremendous, rolling fart that seemed to go on forever. They left the hyenas standing there in stunned silence.

"Woah. Too bad their lionesses, that was sexy. Ow! Shenzi!" Banzai rubbed his cheek where the female had slapped him.

"Shut up and eat, moron." That recalled him to the all important business of eating food and the hyenas began to feast on the carcass, entirely forgetting about the two strange lionesses.

"How did you manage that?" Riku asked when they were safely out of earshot, and Sora laughed a touch sheepishly.

"Pure chance. I just needed to fart, so I figured why not? I didn't think it would be that good." It had truly been an epic moment. Riku licked his foot thoughtfully.

"It was amazing. Too bad Zexion wasn't here to immortalize it in his illusion stories." Riku paused a moment to scratch himself. "Damn! I still have fleas." In fact they seemed a bit worse now. Not surprising, perhaps, considering he was covered in fur.

"So do I, and it's all your fault." They padded out of the elephant's graveyard and Sora and Riku both stared, taken aback by the condition of the land. "…I really hope Axel and the others are someplace better." Riku could only agree.

"This reminds me of that awful year back in my family home when we got no rain all summer and had to carry bucket after bucket from the well to the garden." He said, pawing the desiccated ground. Sora winced at the thought. "The ground looked just like this, except where we watered." Fortunately, Riku wasn't the least bit thirsty. He couldn't know that lions mostly didn't drink, surviving on the water in the meat they ate, but his body knew. "Well, let's see if we can find this 'pride' thing." Riku wasn't really too worried about water. It would cost them cruelly in magic but if it was absolutely necessary, he and Sora could create a watering hole for themselves. Although that was to be saved as a last resort.

It took them several hours of searching, but they finally found a group of tan creatures like themselves. It was a large group, and they had to fight against their instincts a bit to approach, but it looked like there still might be room for another pair of adults. Riku led the way, displaying calm dominance. He knew it could easily be interpreted as a challenge by whoever was the leader of this group, if the lionesses were anything like new people, but he couldn't help it. He was the leader of his group and that showed in how he acted. The lionesses perked up and looked at them curiously as they approached, and one of them, an older female, walked out to meet them.

"I am Sarabi, widow of King Mufasa." She said with a bitter pride, then looked at them quizzically. "Who are you?"

"I'm Riku and this is Sora." Riku flicked his tail at his lover, who nodded a greeting to the other lion. "We're new here. We met some… some dog creatures who recommended we join the pride. Is this the pride?" That word still struck him as very strange. Sarabi looked puzzled.

"It is. Dog things?" She didn't understand what he was talking about. A half-grown lioness peeked out from behind her.

"Hi! I'm Nala." She chirped at them and Riku nodded to her before speaking again.

"Yes… they were much smaller than us and dark with spots. I don't know what they're called."

"Hyenas…" Sarabi almost growled and Sora flicked his tail curiously as Riku just watched her. "Where did you come from?" Riku hesitated a moment. How would he explain this? There was no good explanation, really.

"From far away. We were exploring a cave when we found a magical doorway. It sucked us in and… here we are." Riku shrugged. "We're missing our friends. Have you met anyone named Axel, Roxas, Zexion or Demyx?" Sarabi shook her head and Riku sighed to himself. It had been a faint hope. "Well, we'll just have to search for them. In the meantime, can we stay with you?" Riku wasn't sure about how to survive in this place or how to hunt in their new forms. Staying with this group would give them time to get their feet under them, quite literally. Sarabi looked at them thoughtfully.

"You both look young and fit…. You can stay. But we have no room for deadwood. You'll need to hunt your share." Riku flicked his ears, a touch amused.

"That won't be a problem." Then he glanced around. "Provided there's any prey here." That seemed dubious and Sarabi lowered her head for a moment.

"We're have hard times." She admitted. "But the herds are still here." From her tone, she wasn't sure how long that would last. Sora was playing a bit with Nala, who laughed and fell down behind him, laughing as he flicked her with his tail. Then the teenage lion paused, tilting her head to one side.

"Are you boy lions or girl lions?" She suddenly asked as she saw something odd between Sora's legs.

"Nala! Obvious they're lionesses. They don't have manes." Sarafina, her mother, said sharply. Riku blinked, wondering what she meant by a mane… he'd seen manes in wild horses but wasn't sure how a cat would have one. Sarabi slowly paced around them and Riku let her. She hesitated, staring.

"That's very… are you a lion or a lioness?" She sounded very uncertain and Riku was uncomfortably aware that the other lionesses were perking up.

"Neither. Both." Riku sighed as he saw her confused look. "We're… we're new people. In our home, only old people had two sexes. There was a great disaster and new people were made when the old people started to die out. We can do both, carry children and engender them." There was a pause as the lionesses absorbed that. From the expressions, they found it a bit nauseating but also intriguing.

"Sarabi. If they're male, then maybe…" Sarafina murmured to the other lioness as Riku and Sora exchanged a confused glance. What difference did male and female make? But clearly it was a critical distinction to these lionesses. Riku suddenly cursed and vigorously scratched himself.

"Fucking fleas! I need Zexion so bad." Sora sighed and began trying to help groom Riku. It wasn't easy with paws instead of hands, but he managed to catch several fleas. "Thanks Sora."

"It's nothing." Riku noticed Sarabi departing and frowned, wondering where the lioness was going. But it was hard to ask. "Mind if we join you?" He nodded towards the rocks where the other lionesses were sunning themselves. Sarafina nodded.

"Help yourselves." Riku found a comfortable spot and spread himself out, Sora settling beside him and resting his head beside Riku's. It felt very good, just lying in the sun and digesting the elephant. Sora affectionately liked Riku's ear, and Riku had to wonder. How did you screw as a lion? He was betting on doggy style, although that was kind of hilarious considering they were cats.

"Riku, Sora, please come here." Riku roused out of a pleasant dream at Sarabi's call and sighed, pushing himself up to his feet and obeying. As the newcomers, it behooved them to obey the present authorities no matter how things turned out in the end. He blinked as he saw she had a strange beast with her that almost looked like a man. It was very furry but had clever, articulated hands. It stepped up to him, examining him minutely and Riku almost took a step back before halting himself and regarding the newcomer with quiet challenge. He rubbed his chin for a moment, then examined Sora before whispering something to Sarabi. She whispered back and they had a quick consultation. Riku was uneasily aware of the other lionesses watching intently. Finally Sarabi looked down, dejected, and the lionesses looked away.

"What is it?" Sora asked uneasily, wondering if they were going to be driven away soon. Sarabi sighed and looked up.

"I was hoping one of you might be our destined king. But… Rafiki says while you might have the qualities to be a King, you have another destiny ahead of you." Riku blinked at that, glancing around the lands. He was sure he could manage them well, but…

"I could have told you that, if you'd asked." He said dryly. "We need to find our friends and hopefully go home. Being King is a full time job, I imagine. Leaving aside the fact that we're, well, new people." That wouldn't work for a King here, he thought. It might be fine for him and Sora although their instincts would lead them to drive away any adult young. But what about the generation after that? New people couldn't mate and have viable children with old people. Zexion's stories seemed to indicate that hybrids were possible but always sterile and Riku was fairly sure the lionesses would count as old people. Sarabi shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. Go back to sleep. Tomorrow you can join us in our hunt and perhaps meet King Scar." From her tone, that wasn't a great honor. Riku just nodded as Sora padded back to their rock. They would just have to take things a day at a time. For now, he couldn't see any way out of this place, but hopefully they would find one.

Hopefully.


	4. The World that Never Was, Part I

_Roxas cursed to himself as he ducked and weaved through the swamp. He was too young for this and he knew it. Unfortunately, it was still happening and he needed to survive it._

_He was fleeing from a Bogart. A malicious swamp creature, it was magical and had no need for food to survive. But it did so love the taste of blood and even more the taste of fear. Roxas was feeling more angry than afraid, but apparently that would do and the beast was chasing him. He wasn't a match for a Bogart. He was too young, without the full depth of power of an adult, and even if he had been one adult wasn't really a match for a Bogart either._

_It was his dam's fault this was happening. Roxas knew that but couldn't find it in him to blame him. It was a sad fact that many new people chose their mates almost at random, when they were traveling. Sometimes the choices were bad but it was hard to undo later. The man who should have sired Roxas hadn't, which the group might have forgiven, but his real sire was with another group. A group they often clashed with over the fields to the West. Roxas had caught a glimpse of Ventus in one of those clashes and had seen that the others in the group were right, he was a little copy of the blonde. The group had no choice but to put up with that but no one was happy about it. It hadn't affected his childhood too much, Terra had given him lots of love, but he'd been forced away too early. It should have been a year, perhaps two before he'd had to –_

_Roxas suddenly tripped on a hidden branch, sprawling in the muck. Climbing to his feet he heard the Bogart laugh, a sticky wet sound and turned. It was too close but he'd do his best to hurt it before he died. The hideous thing flashed between trees and he readied himself –_

_And blinked as fire suddenly erupted between the trees and the Bogart screamed. There was a wild laugh, but it was a person! Roxas stared as he saw fire red hair bobbing through the trees and grinned as he went on the attack._

_One adult would have trouble with a Bogart but two were enough to drive it away, and so it proved. The Bogart finally vanished into the swamp, hissing curses as it went and Roxas finally got to take a look at his savior. Tall and lanky, the man had brilliant green eyes and flame red hair. Roxas had never seen anyone with that shade of hair before and the man's scent was… good. Very good. Roxas knew intellectually that that meant they weren't related at all. The new people had been designed to recognize relatives and avoid mating with close ones. He turned to look at the blonde and from the interest in his eyes, he'd picked up the same about Roxas._

"_I'm Axel. A-X-E-L, got it memorized?" Roxas smiled faintly at the cocky tone. "So, what's your name?"_

"_Roxas." Roxas vanished his weapons and offered him a hand to shake. Axel grinned, vanishing his weapons too before gripping his hand. "Thank you for saving me."_

"_It was nothing. So, Roxas, want to be my mate?" Roxas couldn't help but laugh at the forwardness of the question. Most would pretend to just be interested in a traveling companion, at least for a short time, but clearly not Axel. Which was fine by him, actually. It was far more honest._

"_I think I would." He could certainly do worse. The redhead smiled, taking his hand, and Roxas smiled back._

_Later that night they managed to find a slightly drier hummock, and Roxas and Axel both lost their virginity. Roxas vaguely thought he should be ashamed, rutting like an animal with someone he'd just met but he couldn't find it in him to care. Something about Axel gave him a warm feeling in his chest. Although…_

"_Axel, have you ever wondered?" Roxas asked quietly as his new lover lay beside him. Axel opened his eyes, giving him a quizzical look. "How you know when you have the right mate?" Roxas had always wondered about that. Terra had never been able to offer any guidance. Axel smiled and rested a hand on his chest._

"_My dam always said that you'll know it's the right one when there's a special feeling right here. And if you don't feel that, you need to walk away, no matter how lonely or scared you are. Do you feel it, Roxas?" Roxas hesitated a moment, then nodded. He did feel something, a connection to the other man. "I feel it too. I knew, the moment I saw you, that you were perfect for me."_

"_I hope you're right." Roxas couldn't trust quite that readily. But he wanted it to be true. And who knew? Maybe it was._

_Months later they were still together and traveling. They'd considered settling but something restless kept driving them onwards. They'd seen one group at a distance, but Axel said it wasn't right and they'd kept going. Axel had a great faith in his feelings and at first Roxas had been skeptical, but he'd come to trust it more. His feelings about Axel kept growing stronger._

"_This is right." Axel finally said as they reached a hill and looked down at a forest. Roxas blinked at the dark, forbidding trees… but something in him said that Axel was right. This was the place. "I wonder if anyone else is here?"_

"_If not, we'll be the first." Roxas said confidently and Axel grinned, twirling his sling. They had both began wandering in early spring and it was the height of summer. Game and food were plentiful, although it was good they had found their home. They would need to start putting away food in earnest now, especially this far North._

_Once they began hunting it didn't take them long to find the others. Fortunately, there were only two and they were friendly. Roxas sniffed the air as the two of them came slowly closer. They smelled okay. Not as good as Axel though, and he was satisfied in his choice._

"_Hi, I'm Riku and this is Sora." The silver haired one, Riku, offered them his hand with a smile. Axel took it with a grin._

"_I'm Axel and this is Roxas." For a moment Roxas could almost feel the dynamic between the two of them, the moment when some interaction was deciding who would be the leader and who would be the follower. He felt it when it abruptly was decided in Riku's favor and Roxas was almost glad. They were here first and this way there would be no resentment. Axel seemed pleased as well. "Need some people?"_

"_Do we?" Riku laughed as Sora smiled. The answer was obvious. "We do! We found this place only a month ago and we've built a longhouse that's ready to share."_

"_That sounds wonderful." Roxas said sincerely. He was tired of sleeping under bushes and trees and he liked these two already._

_It was good to be home._

_hr_

"Why can't we at least question them first?" Axel was more than a little upset with the Superior's decision as he stood on the deck that overlooked the caverns full of Heartless. Roxas just shrugged and frowned at Larxene and Luxord. They were laughing and making bets on who would scream first.

Their two odd doubles were chained up down below. They hadn't awoken yet and for some reason, the Heartless seemed to be waiting for them to become conscious. But then, the Heartless could have a truly sadistic streak. It didn't bother Roxas in the least. He'd seen and participated in plenty of world destructions, why should the fate of a boy who looked a bit like him concern him?

"What's it matter Axel?" Roxas asked. "Even if she could tell you where you come from and what your name is, you wouldn't remember." Like most Nobodies, Axel had no recollection of his life before he'd lost his heart. Until now he'd never even had a hint of his origins, not like some others.

At last, he'd been given a hint of his past. And he was going to lose it before it could be explored. Axel glowered down into the pit and Roxas gently touched his back, following old memories and vague feelings that he should comfort his friend. It didn't help, of course. But it was just one of those things you did.

"They're waking up. We'll be seeing some action soon." Larxene said gaily and Axel wanted to hit her. Anger was one of the few emotions Nobodies could feel a fairly strong echo of. Taking a deep breath the Flurry of Dancing Flames controlled himself, watching as the one that looked like Roxas stirred.

"Hm?" Roxas blinked slowly, feeling odd. He was on his back. He never slept on his back. "?" He tried to sit up and found that he couldn't. Lifting his head, he saw that he was chained in place on a slab of rock. Axel was beside him, also chained down and there were shadow creatures dancing around the cavern.

Roxas looked at them curiously, entirely unafraid. He was familiar with them although he thought of them as shadow beasts, not Heartless. When the cataclysm had happened they had been released to plague the half-people. That had been one of the reasons the new people had been made. They had hearts, but not the same way as the old people. What existed in their chests was merely a mechanism to pump blood through their bodies. The more mystical essence that made a _heart_ was wound through their body and essence in such a way that it could never be removed. To the Heartless, he and Axel were almost invisible. In his own world, Roxas would have destroyed the shadow beasts without a second thought, but not because they would hunt his group. No, he would have destroyed them because they hunted the same beasts as the new people and the shadow beasts had a hunger for flesh and blood that could not be satisfied.

"Axel, wake up." Roxas called to the redhead, but Axel stayed unconscious. "Axel!" Roxas wiggled, trying to figure out a way out of the chains. Scowling, he called up his two blades. If he could only angle Oblivion or Shattered Light enough to catch a chain…

Above them, the Nobodies were a little under whelmed by the display.

"When are the Heartless going to do something?" Larxene complained as Luxord frowned. There was very little activity going on below them and that was really very odd. It got stranger as one small Heartless walked right over Axel's unconscious female twin, acting as though she was nothing but another piece of rock. Then the Roxas double called in his weapons and all the Nobodies stared.

"Are those keyblades?" Axel asked in disbelief, staring at the boy below them who was straining to slip Oblivion under a chain. Roxas leaned over the balcony a bit, frowning.

"I don't know. But maybe we should stop them before they escape." The boy had managed to free himself and was cutting his friend loose, trying to shake her awake. Axel nodded and leapt off the balcony, Roxas following. "You two go tell the Superior about this!" Roxas ordered Larxene and Luxord. Larxene glowered, unwilling to take his instructions but Luxord just nodded and departed in a burst of darkness.

Roxas heard the two land behind him and whirled, both weapons at the ready as he stood protectively in front of Axel. The redhead was obstinate about remaining unconscious and while Roxas could have carried him, he certainly couldn't carry him and fight at the same time. Roxas hesitated, his eyes widening as he got a good look at the two strangers. "…Who are you?" The redhead facing him looked so similar to his own Axel, but was just a touch sharper, with slightly stronger features. The boy who looked like him was much the same although it was less obvious.

"I'm Axel. A-X-E-L, got it memorized?" Roxas blinked at that weird echo of the first time he met his own Axel. This was getting truly surreal. "And this is Roxas. Who are you?"

"I… I'm Roxas." He said, weapons drooping and voice betraying his utter bewilderment. "And this is Axel." Roxas glanced over at his mate briefly and saw he was still out cold. "Please, he's pregnant and he won't wake up. I don't know what's wrong with him." Glancing back at the two strangers Roxas was surprised to see them gaping at him. Surely Axel's condition was obvious.

"What?!?" The other Axel sputtered. "He? Isn't that a woman?"

"A woman?" Roxas was confused for a moment before he remembered Zexion's stories. "No, we're new people. We don't have sexes like that."

"Then why did you refer to him as he?" His own double asked softly, without only a bit of curiosity. Roxas shrugged.

"It's just language. Zex says that back when we were first made 'it' was rude and our creators settled on he because we look more male when we're not pregnant." That made sense to Roxas. They only developed real breast tissue during pregnancy, and usually it wasn't large even then. Axel had small breasts now, although they were hard to spot under his leathers and furs. "But we're not really male. We're hermaphrodites. Please, do you have someone who can look at Axel?" That was his overriding priority. The only thing that mattered more was keeping them both alive, and that was for the good of his mate as well. There was a pause and the other Axel let his chakram vanish.

"Yeah, we'll take him to the infirmary." Roxas frowned, gripping his arm and whispering into his ear for a moment. "Mansex can go suck it! His orders are out of date Roxy. He'll want to know about those keyblades and why the Heartless are ignoring them anyway." Axel bent down, picking up his double as Roxas shook his head. The second Roxas hesitated, then made his two weapons vanish, helping Axel carry his mate. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Say, this is going to be really confusing with two Axel's and two Roxas'. Hmm, we'll have to pin a bow on you or something. Or maybe you could take a new name." That might be easiest to avoid confusion. Roxas hesitated, then shrugged.

"You can call me Roo, if you want. My clan-brother used to." He offered and Axel grinned at that. "And you can call my mate Ax, although he hates that." Roxas briefly thought of escaping, but then dismissed the idea. Axel needed medical attention and Roxas just couldn't give that to him. Briefly he wished for Zexion and wondered where the smart member of their family was. If this place had a second Axel and Roxas maybe they would have Zexion too? That would be ideal. And as it turned out, he was correct. Roxas almost relaxed as he saw the familiar silver-purple hair bent over some strange device. He knew it wasn't his Zexion from the black robe but right now any Zexion would do.

"Zexion, Vexen! Could you take a look at these guys?" Axel set his double out on a bed, and he groaned but didn't awaken. Vexen looked up from an experiment he was doing, annoyed, and Roxas paled.

"…Dad?" He said weakly, making everyone stare at him. "Err…" This was very, very awkward. Roxas had to control an instinctive repulsion. It helped that he knew this wasn't really his father. "Sorry." Roxas looked down, embarrassed, and concentrated on just stroking Axel's hair. Vexen decided to completely ignore that nonsense… he was sure he had no children and if he did, Roxas certainly would be one of them… in favor of scanning the unconscious boy/girl on the bed. He immediately lifted both eyebrows at the readings.

"What manner of creature is this?" He asked, making Roxas glare at him. "Hmm. Most interesting…" Zexion came over, looking at the instruments curiously and blinked.

"Pregnant… the internal structure…" The two began conversing in low voices, but Roxas quickly became impatient with their scholarly discussion.

"Is the baby well?" He asked sharply. Vexen looked up with a frown and Zexion answered.

"I'm no expert on babies, but the vital signs appear to be stable." That was a bit reassuring. Roxas couldn't help but trust another version of Zexion. He'd always quite liked the silver haired young man and known that Zexion was completely dedicated to the good of the group. Demyx was a bit more selfish, but that was fine. No one was perfect. "…Strange." Zexion was examining the more metaphysical readings now, frowning. "Where is his heart?" His instruments couldn't find it at all. "No wonder the Heartless weren't interested. My instruments almost think he's a Nobody." Axel and Roxas exchanged a look. Clearly, that wasn't true. The other Roxas frowned, not understanding.

"What is a Nobody?" He'd never heard that term before. Zexion hesitated a moment but answered as Vexen began a new test.

"A Nobody is the shell that is left behind when a Heartless takes a heart. People with stronger hearts can leave behind greater Nobodies like ourselves." Zexion summoned a few lesser Nobodies to show Roxas, who blinked.

"Oh, those things." His disdain for the Dusks was clear. Zexion eyed him curiously, a touch annoyed before Roxas explained. "They just hang around and don't do anything. We can control them but it's really not worth the effort. I never knew where they came from though, that's interesting. They must be what was left of some of the old people in my world." Not all of them though. Most of the old people had died to the magical radiation, not the Heartless. If the shadow beasts had been the only problem the old people wouldn't have made the new people at all. "I've never seen a greater Nobody before in my world."

"Tell us about your world." Zexion requested smoothly. He wasn't sure why this Roxas seemed to trust him, but he wasn't above taking advantage of it. Roxas hesitated a moment but couldn't see a reason why not, and shrugged before explaining.

"There was a magical war a long time ago. Most of the old people died then and the magic of the world was twisted. The old people tried to survive but couldn't. They were very vulnerable to the twisted magic, and they sickened and died. The ones who survived had children with horrible birth defects. They were desperate and managed to make the new people. We're far more resistant to the wild magic and we have innate magic. Our hearts are also threaded differently in our bodies, so shadow beasts… Heartless… can't take them at all. We're also both sexes. We were made that way so we could have as many chances at having children as possible. The old people thought our children would still be affected by the magic, and they were right. Our population is very low and it's been thousands of years." Roxas was hazy on the time involved, but he knew it had been a long time. "Have you seen anyone else like us? We were pulled through a door, and Riku, Sora, Zexion and Demyx should be here too." He wasn't nearly as worried about them as he was about Axel but he was concerned. The Nobody Axel shook his head.

"Just you. That is one messed up history." Axel wasn't sure he believed it, and what kind of world could they be from that had weird versions of himself and Roxas? "We'll have to see what the Superior wants to do about this." Axel wasn't sure at all what he would want to do. Shoving them through a gateway into another world was a possibility, since they seemed pretty useless for the Organizations goals. They couldn't be made into Nobodies and while they might be powerful, how could they be trusted to help? Axel glanced over as his pregnant version groaned. Roxas immediately moved to his side.

"Axel! Are you alright?" Axel blinked and nodded, sitting up before Vexen pushed him back down.

"Stay still. I'm examining you." Axel reacted to the voice of authority and stayed put as Vexen did one final test, then grunted. "I doubt these two will be much use. Roxas, Axel, take them to the kitchen and feed them. The Superior will deal with this when he's ready." Vexen wasn't about to disturb him over this. Axel glanced at Zexion who shrugged then nodded. The new Axel and Roxas exchanged a glance, but then Axel blushed as his stomach rumbled.

"Food sounds good." The smart thing to do was grab food when they could.

They'd have to try to find their friends a bit later.


	5. Agrabah, Part I

"Vexen isn't really your dad, is he?" Axel asked and watched as the other Roxas shook his head, swallowing some noodles.

"Not really. It's a long story." Axel and his double looked at him expectantly as his mate worked on finishing something that was supposed to be chicken soup. It tasted a bit funny but neither of them were going to complain. New people could eat almost anything untainted by the wild magic. "Okay… my dam was officially mated with Vexen and he should have been my father, but he wasn't. My dam was Terra and my actual father was Ventus. But Vexen helped raise me so I call him that."

"Ugh, Vexen as a father figure. I can't imagine what that would be like!" Axel shivered as Roxas looked a bit thoughtful. He didn't know much about his past either. Could he be related to these people here? And did it matter if he was? "So hey, what's your story?" Axel questioned his double and Roxas was sure the same thing was on his mind. The pregnant Axel blinked, swallowing.

"Me? It's nothing that interesting. I was raised by Orinda and Leeto, with a group down pretty far South. I have a twin brother named Reno but we split up when he wanted to join a group and I wanted to keep going. It felt right to him but not right to me, you know? I found Roxy here right before a Bogart could eat him and we just kept going North 'til we met Sora and Riku. The rest is history." The Nobody Axel tensed a little at the mention of Sora and glanced at Roxas, but he didn't notice.

"Riku? I know someone named Riku." The Nobody Roxas said with a frown. Axel tilted his head.

"He's our leader. Is he your leader here?" Roxas smiled and shook his head. That thought was truly ludicrous. The two Nobodies were both rather disappointed.

"It's too twisted Roxy. There's no clues to our pasts here." Axel said softly to the blonde, who nodded.

"We'll have to see what the Superior wants done with them." They seemed like complete time wasters to him. Interesting, but still time wasters. Axel nodded as his double sighed, sitting back.

"Well, I'm done. So what is there to do around here? Any game to hunt, tasks to do? Or we could tell you stories, like the time I caught a fish that was THIS big!" The pregnant Axel gestured widely as Roxas rubbed his face with one hand.

"It was only this big and he's a horrible liar." Roxas said confidentially as Axel winced, pretending to be hurt. "I – uh?" Vexen had stepped into the room, looking vaguely pissed off. He didn't like being used as a messenger.

"The Superior says to send them somewhere. He doesn't care where." The new Roxas and Axel exchanged a glance, but… that was probably a good thing. Their friends clearly weren't here so going somewhere else would have to be a step in the right direction. Although…

"I don't suppose you have any travel food to spare?" Axel said wistfully. "We didn't really bring much." They hadn't anticipated being away from the longhouse for long. Axel frowned as he thought about that but as long as they got back before spring the place would be fine. Unless other people moved in, unlikely in the fall, their stores of food would be untouched. The two Nobodies glanced at each other and Roxas nodded.

"We can do that." They searched the kitchen for a moment and finally gave their copies each a bag with crackers, cheese whiz in a jar and some cans of spam. It might not be appetizing but it would definitely keep them going and the two travelers accepted it without complaint.

"Thank you. We really appreciate this." Axel gestured, creating a corridor of darkness and blinked as his double recoiled. "Chaos! What are you doing?!? Are you crazy?"

"What?" The two Nobodies were both baffled by their doubles reactions. Roxas was standing in front of his pregnant mate now, clearly intending to shield him with his body and Axel had a hand protectively in front of his stomach. Were they worried about damage to the baby? That might make sense, given the way darkness could corrupt. But that wasn't it.

"If a magic surge came through we would all be ripped to shreds by an open gateway. Those are unsafe." Roxas said definitely and the two Nobodies exchanged surprised glances. "If any kind of ripple comes through when you're traveling one you'll be ripped apart if you're lucky. If not you'll survive as a magic twisted monster." Roxas had seen one once as a child and never wanted to see one again. "Please, can you shut that?" Axel closed the gate, but only because they were bothered.

"Look, we don't have magic surges here. This is totally safe except maybe for the darkness corrupting you if you use them too much." Axel looked dubious, still protective of his child, but Roxas suddenly looked thoughtful.

"Really?" That actually made sense. This place was full of old people so how could it have the twisted magic? "That's safe to do? That would be a really good way to get around then?" If that was the case they could all generate portals, although Roxas knew it would never occur to the others to try. The danger of the corridors was ingrained knowledge to all of them. Roxas hesitated then gestured, opening his own gate. To where, he wasn't sure, but he could feel it was a place with grass and animals. Things they could hunt and eat. "Let's go then!"

"Roxas, are you sure about this?" Axel was worried but Roxas nodded.

"It feels right." Axel looked startled then smiled. He was the one who had encouraged Roxas to follow his feelings. Before they'd met, Roxas hadn't used them at all.

"Okay then." Axel took his mate's hand and the two of them walked into the dark gate, which closed behind them as the two Nobodies watched. There was a heavy silence for a moment before Axel spoke.

"I almost feel sad." He knew he didn't have a heart or real emotions but he felt something. Something that hurt and twisted inside him. "Do you think we could ever have something like that?"

"We're Nobodies, Axel." Roxas said quietly, looking at the place where their doubles. "We can't have feelings like that. Not until we get hearts, anyway." Roxas looked up as he felt warm hands on his shoulders and looked up into bright green, smiling eyes.

"We could pretend." Roxas was about to disagree when Axel's mouth found his, and he found he didn't want to. It might all be pointless but… somehow, it didn't feel that way.

Maybe it was pretend, but they wanted to pretend.

* * *

"We're going to miss those leathers and furs when we go home." Axel fretted a bit as they walked down the road and Roxas nodded.

"Better than suffocating at the moment. We can always tailor some blankets." Axel sighed and nodded. That was true. He was feeling worried about things right now and ruefully reflected that it was probably a combination of the unknown and hormones. "At least we still have plenty of food." They'd found a large furry thing that looked vaguely like a horse running loose and had killed and eaten it. It had tasted good although the meat wasn't going to keep much longer. They had brought a large chunk with them and just cut off the outer crust before eating what was beneath, mostly raw.

They were in what Axel had identified as a scrub desert and Roxas was very glad he had come from the far South. Axel was good at finding water here, cutting open cactuses and they both knew the spells to call water to the surface. So far they hadn't needed to use them and it was just as well. The cost in magic was brutal.

They were following a road. Such things were not unknown to the new people, but this road was very well tended and used, nothing like the small paths the new people left. The largest thing Roxas had ever seen going along those paths had been a trader with a donkey. He and Axel had already seen several large carts going down this path filled with items they mostly couldn't identify. Although they'd managed to trade some crackers to a farmer for a few fresh apples out of his cart. That had been nice.

"I hate this heat." Axel mumbled and Roxas frowned. The redhead was scratching at his nose and from the peeling skin he was getting a sunburn.

"Not feeling too hot?" They could get sunstroke although it was rare and Axel was pregnant. He'd be more vulnerable to the stress. But he shook his head.

"Nah, I'm fine. Just sweating in areas I don't want to discuss." Roxas blinked and laughed at that as Axel smiled. They were both down to their underclothes, cotton shifts the group had gotten in trade and Axel's pregnancy was obvious. Roxas reflected that it would probably be easier to just tell people here he was a woman rather than explain their male/female status. Roxas shifted the single fur he was carrying. They were using it as a blanket at night. The nights were surprisingly cold here but Axel had mentioned that, and they had decided to keep just one of the furs. Axel was carrying the meat and idly sliced himself off a chunk, testing it before eating it. New people were capable of eating carrion as long as it wasn't too far gone.

Then they topped a ridge and stopped, staring.

"I think I just widdled myself." Roxas blinked at Axel's faint comment and couldn't help but snort. Although he was feeling much the same way himself.

Below them was something he'd only seen in Zexion's illusion stories and had never really believed had ever existed. A city, built out of light brown bricks and tiles and bustling with activity. Roxas and Axel had to fight against their instincts like Zexion and Demyx had, but in the end they won. A lot of how new people reacted to large groups happened because of the other groups answering, instinctive reaction and they could both tell the city was indifferent to them. It took work, but that helped calm their instinctive urge to flight.

"Well." Roxas swallowed before firming his voice. "We need to see if the others are there." Although he had no idea how they'd find them in this hive. How many people were down there? He didn't want to think about it. Axel frowned at the meat for a moment.

"We better eat this first. I don't think they'd like us just carrying it around, the smell might alarm the animals. And maybe someone would want to take it." It was much safer to just carry the meat inside themselves. That the people below might be disgusted by a huge chunk of rotting camel didn't occur to either of them. Cutting away the worst parts, they quickly ate the rest. Part of their metabolism was the ability to gorge, then not eat for several days, although it wasn't very comfortable.

Feeling slightly sick from the heat and very full stomachs, the two of them entered Agrabah. They were mostly ignored although a few children pointed, probably due to their hair. Red and blonde seemed to be rare here although their shifts fit in fairly well among the poor. Those with more means seemed to be wearing flowing robes or pants and vests. Roxas vaguely considered taking some. These people weren't part of his group and he had no compunctions about theft as long as they weren't caught. But how to go about it?

The two of them were completely ignorant of the dangers of the city. That proved to be a blessing in disguise shortly, as the two of them wandered down dark alleys.

"We'll take that fur boy." Roxas blinked at the strange man holding a sword, then glanced down at the fur in his arms. It was Axel's coat and was fashioned from the fur of a great wolf, a magically twisted monster. He supposed that if this world didn't have creatures like it the fur would be valuable. It was certainly pretty, full of silvery threads and darker whorls. If it was valuable he wasn't about to give it up.

"No." Roxas said pleasantly, dropping the fur and calling in his blades. There were two men behind them but Axel turned to face them, calling in his chakram in a burst of fire. "Give us your clothes."

The fight that happened next was as one-sided as the thieves had expected, but not the way they had wanted. One tried to escape but Roxas easily ran him down. It took a bit of work to find clothes that fit a bit and were less bloodstained, but they were finally outfitted. They were about to depart when a soft voice called to them.

"You should take the belt pouches." They both turned, surprised, to see a bald man in black, flowing robes, wearing a mask over the lower half of his face. They hadn't felt him behind them which was really odd. "Unless you don't like money?"

"Money?" Axel said, confused, as Roxas frowned and stepped back to the bodies trying to spot what the man was pointing out. "Oh… counters for goods?" The man's eyebrows arched a bit at that query.

"I suppose you could say so." He watched as Roxas found the pouches and examined the money dubiously. "You people are very strange but… impressive. Where are you from?"

"Darkvale forest." Roxas straightened then smiled thinly. "On the far side of forever. We accidentally traveled through a magical doorway and we're likely stranded." Axel looked a little depressed at that thought but even if they found their friends how were they supposed to get home?

"Hmm. Well, why don't you come with me? My Mistress might be interested in you and the pay would be good." Axel and Roxas exchanged a thoughtful glance before Axel nodded. It felt right to him.

"So what will this entail? Fighting?" Axel asked as they walked away with the masked man. "Are you good at fighting? And what's your name?"

"I'm Rastin. And I try to avoid fighting."

"Really?" Axel was vaguely surprised. To his instincts, something about Rastin screamed 'deadly!' although he didn't seem to mean them any harm.

"Oh yes. Much better to kill without a fight." There was a brief pause in the conversation as the pair thought about that.

"Hmm. Pity we can't use that idea much." Axel said regretfully. "When you have to put down a great wolf or take on a Bogart there's always a fight." Roxas shook his head.

"I don't think this place has great wolves or Bogarts' Axel. So keep the idea in reserve." Rastin seemed slightly entertained by the way they were regarding his comment as a novel idea. Roxas wasn't sure why. Maybe it was a common concept here. "Depending on why we're killing things here and what they are, killing without a fight would be a good idea. Much less chance of getting hurt and you should be trying to avoid that with the baby on the way." Rastin paused for just a brief moment.

"Baby? I did notice… but I didn't really think… you are pregnant?" He'd been a bit confused with the skill and power Axel had shown killing those men. In Agrabah, pregnant women didn't do that. Axel nodded, resting a hand on his swollen belly.

"I should be due in maybe three moonturns." He said proudly. Rastin frowned before realizing he had to mean months.

"I see. That could be a problem but I'm sure the Mistress will still be interested." Axel just nodded. In their world, a pregnant person looking to join a new group would have a much harder time than most. Although the fact that he had his mate with him was a plus. Roxas would stay useful even when Axel had to spend most of his time tending to his child. And even that would only be for six months, until the child was weaned. Then the group could help tend the child.

Although this group would likely feel differently. Axel and Roxas looked around curiously as Rastin led them through the worst parts of town. They both wrinkled their noses at the stench. They had never experienced anything like it before, but they could pick out notes that were almost appetizing amid the general reek. Finally they reached a place that had more of those appetizing notes and Rastin led them down the stairs into the back.

"Princess." He bowed to a woman stirring a pot of stew. She had long, silky white hair and when she looked up Roxas and Axel noticed that her eyes were jade green. She was beautiful although she looked a bit too feminine for their taste. "I have two possible recruits for you. They were most impressive."

"Really?" She smiled and set aside her spoon as the other people in the room edged over. Axel was pleased to see there were only seven of them. That was small enough that he and Roxas didn't even feel a twinge from their instincts, and the considering way everyone was looking at them was familiar. It was like entering a new group. "What happened?" Rastin quickly gave a description of the battle and Roxas and Axel exchanged a glance, impressed. He must have been there the whole time, watching, but they hadn't picked him up at all. "My word. Well, I'm Princess Zhiresti of Shii. Welcome to my home away from home."

"I'm Roxas and this is Axel." Roxas introduced them. "Uh… doesn't Princess mean the daughter of a ruler? This seems an odd place…" There was a rough laugh from the surrounding ruffians and Zhiresti smiled.

"I should say dispossessed, penniless Princess. Well, it could be worse. I could be dead." She sipped the stew and shook her head. "Needs more salt." She quickly gave it a pinch then continued to stir. "Rastin is my only retainer left. I'm putting together a group of the best people I can find to search for an ancient artifact, the Box of All Things. It's said that the Box can grant any wish as long as you're willing to pay the price. Anyone with me will get a chance to use the box to get their greatest wish… as long as they're willing to pay the cost." She smiled. "You may not be willing to, when push comes to shove, but we're all going to try." They both considered that and Axel tugged on Roxas' shirtsleeve before leaning down and speaking in his ear.

"It could send us home or find all the others!" Roxas frowned.

"But at what cost?" That was the question. Axel shrugged.

"We won't know if we don't go. Besides, this just feels right. The group is the right size and we need help here anyway." Roxas considered it and nodded. Axel had a good point.

"Okay, we're in. Uh… can we contribute this fur to the group?" They didn't really need it anymore and from the way those thieves had acted Axel's old fur coat was valuable here. Zhiresti looked at it in surprise, her eyebrows lifting.

"My, what a marvelous thing! Although the stitching is very crude… put it here." She motioned to a chair. "We're looking for just one more person. Ten is a good number. Then we'll be ready to go." That pleased both Axel and Roxas. Ten was a good number for a group, a little on the small side but nowhere near too big. "Stew is done. Would you like some?"

"No thank you, we ate this morning." She looked a little confused and Roxas hesitated, thinking of how to explain. "We… sort of gorged. We won't be hungry for days." Right now the thought of eating made him feel a bit sick and from the look on his face, Axel felt the same way. Zhiresti shrugged.

"More for the rest of us." And she began ladling out the stew to her companions as Axel and Roxas circulated, getting to know everyone.

They would probably be spending a while here.


End file.
